ATHENS, Greece — When the final whistle blew, an exhausted
Mia Hamm was quickly swarmed by 17 thrilled teammates.

A few minutes later, an Olympic gold medal was hanging around
her neck, too.

Hamm and the rest of the Fab Five had just enough left in their
thirtysomething legs for one more title, beating Brazil 2-1
Thursday in overtime in their final tournament together.

Abby Wambach scored in the 112th minute with a powerful 10-yard
header off a corner kick from Kristine Lilly. It was Wambach's
fourth goal of the Olympics and her 18th in her last 20 games.

The game marked the final competitive appearance of the last
remaining players from the first World Cup championship team in
1991. The five helped bring their sport to national prominence and
captured the country's imagination by winning the World Cup in
1999. Together, they have played in 1,230 international
matches.

Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett are retiring from the national
team—although they might play in some farewell exhibitions
this fall—leaving Kristine Lilly and Brandi Chastain as the
last of the old guard.

Hamm struggled at times in the 266th game of a 17-year career
that included 153 goals.

The U.S. team was rescued by Wambach, some great saves from
goalkeeper Briana Scurry and a goal from Lindsay Tarpley, one of
two college players on the team, in the 39th minute. Pretinha
scored for Brazil in the 73rd.

After the game, the team grabbed flags from fans and took a
victory lap, waving the flags to the crowd of 10,416 at Karaiskaki
Stadium.

Brazil received its first women’s soccer medal after
finishing fourth at the last two Olympic Games. Germany, which beat
Sweden 1-0 in the third-place game, took the bronze.

The win helped erase the sting of the U.S. team’s loss to
Norway in the gold-medal game in Sydney four years ago and a
third-place finish at last year's World Cup. In the 1990s, the
United States ruled women's soccer, but the other teams have caught
up over the last five years.

The victory also offers a measure of vindication for coach April
Heinrichs, who took over after the 1999 World Cup triumph and
failed to win the top prize in 2000 or 2003.

The team was captained for the last time by Foudy, who played
the entire 120 minutes just three days after spraining her right
ankle in the semifinal victory over Germany.

Despite the upcoming changes to the team, it looks to be in
promising hands with youngsters Tarpley, Wambach, Heather
O’Reilly, Cat Reddick and others.

The Brazilians came out playing very physically, pushing and
grabbing whenever they could get away with it. Coach Rene Simoes
accused the Americans of trying to hurt his players when the two
teams met in a 2-0 U.S. victory in the first round last week, but
this time his team was clearly the aggressor.

The U.S. team, the oldest in the tournament, was playing its
sixth game in 16 days—and its second straight 120-minute
overtime game. Brazil had to play only five games in the uneven
Olympic format.
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